Junovicz armored car
| Junovicz armored car "Panzer Auto 1: PA1" |
|
|---|---|
| General properties | |
| crew | 5 men (driver, commander, loading man, 2 machine guns) |
| length | 5.7 m |
| width | 1.9 m |
| height | 3.5 m |
| Dimensions | approx. 3–4 t |
| Armor and armament | |
| Armor | 7 mm (front), 5 mm (side) |
| Main armament | 2–3 Schwarzlose M.7 / 12 HMGs |
| agility | |
| drive | 4-cyl. Fiat 12L petrol engine, 4-speed gearbox 40 HP |
| suspension | Tubeless tires, leaf springs |
| Top speed | 56 km / h |
| Power / weight | approx. 10 hp / t |
| Range | 340-350 km |
The Junovicz armored cars , which were built according to the plans of the Austro-Hungarian captain Junovicz, were the result of attempts to mount a uniform armored structure on a truck chassis. From 1915 to 1917 five such armored cars were probably built.
prehistory
In the years before the outbreak of war, the Austro-Hungarian army did not deal with armored vehicles - although there were corresponding ideas and proposals such as the Burstyn motorized gun . This was rejected both for financial reasons and out of disinterest.
However, during the war, armored vehicles were needed very soon, as Italy and Russia also used the first armored vehicles in the form of an armored car on the fronts. As a result, from 1915, under Captain Junovicz, truck chassis were converted - the Junovicz armored car.
description
modification
During the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian captain Junovicz had the idea of assembling a tank structure on a truck chassis. According to his plans, in 1915 and 1916 the first three armored vehicles were built on Fiat trucks with an output of 40 hp . The conversions had a 120 liter tank. In the end, all vehicles were unique because they were hand-made one-offs. The official name of such an armored car was Panzer Auto 1: PA1.
In 1917, two more trucks, a 36 HP car from Fross-Büssing and a 34 HP car from Saurer , were converted into armored vehicles based on the captain's standard model.
Armament and armor
The vehicles converted in this way were armed with two to three Schwarzlose 07/12 HMG machine guns, one of the machine guns pointing forward and the other pointing to one side.
The armor of Junovicz armored vehicles was sufficient for such a vehicle: the front armor was 7 mm thick, the side armor 5 mm thick. With a crew of five and a total weight of around 4 tons, the cars were also relatively fast with top speeds of up to 35 km / h.
commitment
Little is known about the use of Junovicz armored cars in World War I. They were used by the Austro-Hungarian army until 1918, first in the Balkans and then in Russia. In 1918 two of the cars were used next to a Romfell, a captured Lancia IZ and a captured Russian Austin armored car in the course of the KuK 1st armored car train on the Italian front. However, due to the terrain, the train could only be used to a very limited extent.
The entire armored car train was then stationed in reserve near Udine for an offensive and saw the end of the war there. Nothing is known about the further whereabouts of the vehicles.
See also
Web links
- Terminology comparison for battle tanks of the Austrian Armed Forces : Section 3.1.2 "Junovicz armored car"
- The Junovicz armored car in the tanks encyclopedia (English)
- Brief description and technical data of Junovicz Series (English)
- Specifications for Junovicz armored car (English)
- Information and technical data on Junovicz (Russian)
- Technical data for the Junovicz armored car (Czech)
Individual evidence
- ↑ aviarmor.net (Russian)
- ↑ Technical details that cannot be found in other sources (Russian)
- ↑ aviarmor.net (Russian)
- ^ Rejection of a prototype of the Burstyn motorized gun under "the development of an idea" on doppeladler.com
- ↑ 3.1.2 Junovicz armored car: Here we speak of trucks from Fiat, Büssing, Saurer, Berna and Praga
- ↑ Technical details of the armored car on valka.cz ( memento of the original from December 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Czech)
- ↑ The sources sometimes mention a third MG as armament
- ↑ [1] In the tanks encyclopedia it is stated that the machine guns could either be swapped from side to side or another man was called in for the crew for the third machine gun.
- ↑ [2] On militaryfactory.com a weight of 3.6 tons is assumed.
- ↑ [3] On aviarmor.net a combat weight of 6 tons is given.
- ↑ [4] A maximum speed of 56 km / h is written here, which, however, in view of the technical status (and compared to other tank models of the time) seems implausible (Russian).
